Case Number 02179

CAPTAIN SCARLET

The Charge

Opening Statement

This isn't just any science-fiction/espionage/action show, it's a
science-fiction/espionage/action show "filmed in
Super-Marionation"!

Facts of the Case

The year is 2068. The Spectrum organization is the global peace-keeper of
Earth, their high-tech Cloudbase a giant aircraft carrier floating high in the
atmosphere. Spectrum agents, culled from the militaries and intelligence
services of countries all over the globe, are given color codenames to protect
their identities (the male ones, anyway; female agents are called Angels, dress
in skin-tight white outfits, and have names like Destiny and Harmony).

Spectrum agent Captain Black goes on a mission to discover the source of
alien transmissions being received from the planet Mars. On the red planet, he
encounters the Mysterons and, like a big dunderhead, takes the
shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach, pisses them off, and gets himself
killed. You see, the Mysterons are sentient but mean-spirited computers created
as a defense system by a mysterious race of aliens who colonized Mars, then fled
the scene for reasons unknown, leaving the pissy super-computers behind. Using
their retrometabolism capabilities (i.e. their ability to recreate matter), The
Mysterons bring Captain Black back to life to use as their double agent inside
Spectrum.

Enter Captain Scarlet. He's Spectrum's top agent until the Mysterons kill
him off in the show's first episode. They reanimate him so he can be Black's
partner in crime but, for reasons unexplained, their control over him is broken
(personally, I think it has something to do with the fact his voice sounds
inexplicably like Cary Grant's). Now, Captain Scarlet is exactly as he was
before the Mysterons killed him, except with the power to regenerate, allowing
his enemies to kill him nearly every week without ending the show's run and
putting a lot people out of work.

Here's how the Mysterons' war against Earth works: each week they declare
their intention to carry out some deadly mischief like killing a diplomat or
wiping out a military compound, and Spectrum must try (often unsuccessfully) to
stop them. Captain Scarlet leads the fight because, hey, even if he's shot or
blown up in a horrific car accident, he'll be back next week to do it all
again.

The Evidence

This A&E box set comprises all 32 episodes of Gerry Anderson's 1967
television show called Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Anderson, if
you don't already know, is most famous for his other Super-Marionation show,
Thunderbirds, which ran from 1964-1966, as well as the 1975-1977
live-action series Space: 1999, starring Martin Landau and Barbara
Bain.

This review is almost too easy to write, so easy it's difficult in a way. I
mean, what can I say, really? These massive four- or five-disc box sets are
designed specifically for the fan. If you're reading this review and Captain
Scarlet is an integral part of your childhood mythology, is anything I say
going to soil your warm memories and dissuade you from a purchase? Doubtful.
Conversely, if you've never seen Captain Scarlet, are you going to run
out and drop 70 to 80 bucks on 32 episodes if I give the box a thumbs up? I
don't think so. Personally, I'd never even heard of Captain Scarlet
before screening this box set. Thunderbirds was slightly before my time,
although I remember seeing some reruns as a kid and feeling vaguely creeped out
by the demeanor of the puppets, creeped out and fascinated at the same time. I
think a portion of Quint's speech about sharks in Jaws may accurately
describe my childhood reaction to Anderson's marionettes: "...lifeless eyes,
black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'.
Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white." Okay, none of the
Thunderbirds ever tried to bite me, but maybe I was afraid they would; like
clowns, those puppets are nightmare fodder. They give me the howling
fantods.

If, unlike me, you have fond childhood memories of Thunderbirds, this
is probably right up your alley. Most say Captain Scarlet is darker, more
complex, and more suited to adults than Thunderbirds. Okay...whatever.
It's still a show with puppets. What fascinated me watching this set, however,
is the level of detail with which Anderson and his crew rendered the world of
the show. Once committed to the odd and unique approach of doing a television
show with marionettes, these guys did nothing half-assed and you've got to love
'em for it. The whole weird look of the show, if nothing else, is absorbing.

Let's talk technical specs. Captain Scarlet is brought to DVD in a
full screen transfer that looks pretty darn good for a 35-year-old obscure
British television show. It's not perfect, of course, displaying slight signs of
dirt and damage, but there's honestly not much to complain about. Color
saturation is good, with strong black levels, and the plastic puppets and sets
look...well, like real plastic. The same basic sentiments can be applied to the
soundtrack. It's flat and hollow at times, but why would anyone expect more from
an old show originally recorded in mono? At least there's no hiss. There's only
the slightest of difference between the 2.0 Mono and 5.1 Surround tracks, the
latter sounding just slightly fuller. Extras are sparing, and primarily
text-based, but they provide solid background on the show. It would be fairly
ridiculous to complain about supplements when talking about a box set with every
single one of the show's episodes, providing over 13 hours of viewing
enjoyment.

The set is very logically organized with eight episodes and a smattering of
extras on each of the four discs. I'll go ahead and list the episode titles here
because they're great titles, maybe my favorite part of the entire series:

Closing Statement

Captain Scarlet, like any complete-season or complete-series
television box set, is something approaching a fetish item. Good news if this is
happens to be your fetish: A&E has done an admirable job of preserving the
show on DVD. It's well worth an investment.

And if it's not your thing? Well, go out and buy Buffy or
X-Files or M*A*S*H or The Simpsons or whatever your thing
happens to be, and leave the Captain Scarlet crowd alone.

The Verdict

Captain Scarlet is found not guilty. I'd thank him to leave this
court, as well as my personal nightmares.